Joseph Jerome

So @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social has pretty much perfectly distilled why everyone outside tech probably wants AI regulated. podcast.techfreedom.org

Didn’t need no help with this clue on today’s NYT Mini.

Nintendo Is Raising The Price Of The Original Switch And A Bunch Of Accessories [Update] - Kotaku The Mario maker blames 'market conditions' for upcoming pricing changes

Okay, the mere notion that the eight year old Switch is going up in price is nuts. Blame tariffs, sure, but why is hardware powered by 2015 tech still $300 anyway?

I’ve been super interested in how courts are looking at the amicus armies in tech competition cases. This footnote from the 9th Circuit in Epic v. Google on security considerations is interesting: cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

So @yegg13.bsky.social has a post on DuckDuckGo’s approach to design and UX for AI-assisted search. The examples are…interesting. gabrielweinberg.com/p/9-ways-duc...

TIME CHANGE: Protecting the Virtual You: Safeguarding Americans' Online Data | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

"If doesn’t matter how tailored you make your legislation, it doesn’t matter how measured. If you want to do antitrust reform, there’s privacy. If it’s privacy, we need to worry about competition. It’s a game of whack-a-mole. Tech companies like the way things are."

Bluesky's CEO warns you shouldn't 'fully outsource your thinking' to AI Bluesky CEO Jay Graber emphasized the importance of critical thinking and developing a generalist skillset for the AI era.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber emphasized the importance of critical thinking and developing a generalist skillset for the AI era.

Whenever Meta talks about “creating and connecting,” I just think about Shrimp Jesus.

Google Is Reaping the Rewards of Its Unfair AI Advantage The search giant capitalizes on its broad access to websites while content creators lose visitors and revenue.

"Google is leveraging its dominant position in one industry to force success in another. It’s monopolistic behavior and something that should be addressed immediately as part of the remedies being devised as part of the antitrust trial it lost last year,” writes @davelee.me @opinion.bloomberg.com:

Wish Prof. Newman was over here posting about antitrust, because this is a real banger:

1/Big Tech isn’t rolling out AI. It’s force-feeding it.

@bcmerchant.bsky.social wrote about how a new study by Nolwenn Maudet, Anaëlle Beignon, and Thomas Thibault shows shows how platforms are designing users into AI – through popups, pinned bots, and visual manipulation. 🧵

Antitrust: Federal antitrust actions against AT&T, IBM, Microsoft allowed chip, software, internet, and AI markets to flourish with competition. Trump’s AI action plan signals halting Big Tech investigations and weaken settlements. 7/7

Last question is about federal privacy legislation. Taking Prof. Solove a bit of context: “it’s a joke.”

“What tech companies want is for the law to essential do nothing but incentivize profit,” argues @daniel-solove.bsky.social to @premmtrivedi.bsky.social at @newamerica.org.

Robust Google Search Antitrust Remedies for an Uncertain AI Future – Knight-Georgetown Institute

“Absent comprehensive remedies, the same gatekeeping that has stifled competition in search could extend into generative AI – undermining the promise of this technology in its earliest stages of development,” notes @knightgtown.bsky.social’s @zanderarnao.bsky.social:

By delaying steps it has already identified, the CMA is only doing Google a favor and hurting consumers in the process.

You can read more about the CMA’s Google search designation here: www.gov.uk/cma-cases/sm...

Analysis | Trump’s ‘Artificial Intelligence Action Plan’ is already stirring debate Critics unveiled their own “People’s AI Action Plan” ahead of new executive orders expected to address energy and “woke” AI.

“This spirit of fear is exactly how China was able to make significant progress under the Biden Administration,” OSTP spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita told the Tech Brief via email in response to the civil society statement.

Should be some fireworks tomorrow! www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

also: this is an insane way for an outlet to describe an account of ai images that is not a human person. who is “her?”

a man is standing with his arms outstretched in a dark room ALT: a man is standing with his arms outstretched in a dark room

Hurts that it’s such a generally walkable city, too.

For the good of “small businesses” (being used as a front by tech).

an elderly woman with her eyes closed and the words `` it 's been 21 years '' written on the bottom . ALT: an elderly woman with her eyes closed and the words `` it 's been 21 years '' written on the bottom .

I have no idea what this means. It seems like a technical argument that GPC will somehow destroy targeted ads, but really, the argument is “we don’t want consumers to opt-out.”

Which has been adtech’s position all along, which means these are twenty year old talking points.

a close up of a bald man 's face with a green screen in the background . ALT: a close up of a bald man 's face with a green screen in the background .

But my favorite made up stat in the whole report is an “assumed” 25% opt-out rate if GPC were more easily accessible.

This completely arbitrary number would somehow "have a substantial impact on the ability of advertisers to reach customers with personalized, targeted ads.”

a cartoon of jasmine and a tiger with a yellow background ALT: a cartoon of jasmine and a tiger with a yellow background

The report approves letting users "make the opt-out decision on a case-by-case basis” allowing "data sharing in cases of familiar & trusted businesses but disallow the option for unfamiliar businesses."

This is an argument to require businesses to let people opt-in to tracking!

CDT Comments to the FEC on REG 2011-02 -- Internet Communications Disclaimers Dear Mr. Stopanovic: The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) request for comment on two alternative propo...

Because adtech fears that if users have easier access to GPC, they’ll use it.

This has been at the root of opposition to any meaningful privacy protection: Everything has to be a time-consuming opt-out process that no one can use. AdChoices stinks by design: cdt.org/insights/cdt...

AB 566 would require browsers to offer a GPC setting, which lets users convey an opt-out single. (Lots of browsers have this.) Full stop. Yet, if you read the Chamber’s report, it reads like targeted advertising is being banned. Why is that?

New Report: AB 566 Threatens California’s Economy, Consumers, and Small Businesses FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: press@calchamber.com (July 16, 2025) SACRAMENTO, CA — A new report by Capitol Matrix Consulting, commissioned by the

Just read the California Chamber of Commerce’s #AB566 hit-piece, which attacks the Global Privacy Control as a gigantic economic threat using the same tired arguments adtech has peddled for years. A few thoughts… advocacy.calchamber.com/2025/07/16/n...

Reflections on OpenAI

Employee reflections on working at tech companies are always fascinating reads. calv.info/openai-refle...

Anyone remember V for Vendetta?

This looks promising: DuckDuckGo introduces new option to filter out eh-eye generated images in search results.

The Room (Blu-ray) is $19.95 on Amazon buff.ly/NulgQLL

franchise sale on Steam buff.ly/hJ7ozyq